Trading platform Plus500 hails bumper annual results

Plus500 has shrugged off a slowdown in activity during the FIFA World Cup to hail an ‘excellent’ full-year operational performance.

The financial technology company’s total revenue increased by 16 per cent to $832million in 2022 as gains on customers’ trading positions soared from just $15.9million the previous year to $193million.

Market volatility resulting from the Covid-19 crisis and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has provided an enormous boon to the Israeli group over the past three years.

Trading: Founded in 2008, Plus500 is known for allowing retail investors to trade in complex financial instruments, including futures and contracts for difference

As expected, trading volumes were somewhat negatively impacted by the World Cup in Qatar towards the end of 2022, in line with previous tournaments. 

Active customer numbers have also fallen off since their pandemic peak, dropping by almost a third to 280,000 last year alone.

Yet the company’s revenue still expanded to $832million, which, combined with healthy cost management, helped boost its annual underlying earnings by 17 per cent to around $454million. 

The FTSE 250 business also said its cash balances had climbed to over $900million, while its earnings per share was estimated to be about $3.80.

Chief executive David Zuria said: ‘2022 was another excellent year for Plus500, providing further clear evidence of our continued successful execution against our strategic roadmap and key operational objectives.

‘The group’s strategic, operational and financial traction continues to be primarily driven by the power of our market-leading proprietary technology and our ongoing ability to attract and retain higher value customers over the long term.’

Plus500 upgraded forecasts numerous times during the year and launched two new share buyback schemes thanks to its strong performance.

It told investors on Tuesday that it remained committed to returning at least half of net profits to investors through share repurchases and dividends on a half-yearly basis.

Founded in 2008, Plus500 is known for allowing retail investors to trade in shares and commodities, as well as complex financial instruments, such as futures and contracts for difference.

A CFD is an agreement between a broker and an investor that involves the former betting on the future price of a stock, commodity or indices over a particular period.

Depending on how the value of the asset changes, one of the two parties must pay the amount between the opening and closing trade price.

Plus500 shares were up 5.1 per cent to 17.95 during the mid-afternoon on Tuesday, making it one of the top ten risers on the FTSE 350 Index.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk